bail out of a different kind

by pieces of moments

So I’m talking with my family tonight and my mom says to me, “did you know about Lang Lang’s $3 million dollar contract?”

“What?!”

Turns out Chinese pianist Lang Lang has bailed on his contract with Deutsche Grammophon to gain a $3 million (yes, $3,000,000,000) contract with Sony Classical. Can you imagine? A “classical” musician making bank like that?

You know, the thing that bothers me about this is there are hundreds of small orchestras across the country trying to make an impact in their communities and each one of them is now at a critical moment trying to find a way to keep salaries to simply keep their doors open. Meanwhile, one pianist (who is an unabashed showman) signs a contract that could keep a small community orchestra going for a while.